China also said it welcomes and supports the proposal, the Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman said Tuesday.

Like Russia, China is a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council and has used its veto power to block some resolutions against Syria.

The proposal — to put the country’s chemical weapons sites under international control — stemmed from off-the-cuff remarks made by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

Asked Monday whether there was anything Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government could do to avoid an attack, Kerry said al-Assad “could turn over every single bit of his chemical weapons to the international community in the next week.

“He isn’t about to do it, and it can’t be done, obviously,” Kerry said.